The present invention generally relates to smoking devices, and more specifically to jewelry smoking devices which are decorative and can be smoked as normal pipes are or while worn as items of jewelry.
Various smoking devices are known. Of particular interest are pipes, which are normally handled only during the smoking process. Smoking pipes, which can be very simply decorated or very ornate, are frequently rested on pipe stands or racks when not in use. This is partially due to the bulky nature of pipes which frequently makes them inconvenient to be carried.
Cigarette and cigar holders are sometimes provided with means for holding the same during smoking. This may be in the form of a loop or handle adapted to receive a person's finger. However, this is not designed or intended to permit wear of the smoking device when not in use. Instead, the handles of the known type are intended to provide a better grip of the smoking device while the latter are in use. Means for providing a good grip is often necessary due to the large and bulky nature of the smoking device. However, such holding means are not associated with loose tobacco smoking pipes. For this reason, and because typical pipes are too large to be permanently worn, pipes in the form of decorative jewelry are not available or known in the prior art.
Prior art smoking devices did not permit concealment. Pipes such as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 595,801 and 1,501,370 were provided with lids or covers for covering the openings to the tobacco receiving compartments. These covers were, however, provided primarily for safety reasons and, irrespective of the positions of the covers, it was always very evident that the devices were smoking pipes. The reason for this is that the pipes in the aforementioned patents had conventional configurations or shapes and the covers likewise has conventional shapes. While the closing of the covers, therefore, covered the tobacco receiving openings, the cover and pipe configurations or exterior surfaces did not cooperate or blend with each other to conceal the nature or identity of the items. Cigarette holders, as opposed to pipes, are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,224,660 and 2,516,437. While the cigarette holders are less conventionally shaped, they do not include covers, lids, plugs or other closure devices for covering the cigarette-receiving openings. Again, it is always evident, even under in close scrutiny, that the items are smoking devices in the nature of cigarette holders. In none of the prior art is there a movable member having an external surface configuration which, when closed, blends with the external surface of the rest of the pipe to camouflage or conceal, even under close scrutiny, the nature of the device.